Hunt for the Vault

A Secret Journal

Writings of a Lone Barsoomian Ape-Man

10

SEP/15

Pandora is colder than I imagined. And despite the fact that the ice does not temper my white haired hide, I do not refer to the temperature of this planet. It is cold in spirit and amity. A dank and barren waste of fear and prejudice.

From way above the planet aboard the Hyperion mother ship, I would study its existence only in my head. My cage in the research center did not have its own window, but across the lab there was a small round porthole that I could gaze through. Every three to four hours or so the planet would come into view. Sometimes the whole planet would be seen against the black of space. Other times only part of the planet could be seen in the shape of a half circle or a huge banana (which the researcher seemed to think I enjoyed eating…how little I allowed them to know about me…), the other part obscured into the blackness. Whatever the shape or amount could be seen from my window, it seemed so beautiful to me. The bluish hues swirling about the whites in a perfect dance captured my gaze. I would watch it from the moment its corona came into view of the window, till the last fading glow left. Its life and cycle fascinated me. I was determined that one day I would see the planet for all its glory and splendor.

My researchers and handlers did not pick-up on my tri-hourly to tetra-hourly habit. But they did know that there were frequent times in the day that I would not allow them to do any sorts of tests on me. They grew keen in asking me my permission first before putting me through their rigorous tests. Though again, I did not fully display my intelligence to them. I knew better, and learned early on. You see…I wasn’t always alone up there. But that story is for another time.

The story I wish to record on this tablet (which the researchers used in some of their experiments to teach me colors and shapes, that I took with me and hacked into its CPU to gain full access to its computing abilities) is the story of my descension to Pandora…